Jessica L. Sousa

Photo of Jessica Sousa
Policy Analyst
Boston Office

Education

M.S.W. in social work, Boston University; M.P.H. in health service management, Boston University; B.A. in psychology, University of Pennsylvania

Overview

Jessica Sousa is a policy analyst at the RAND Corporation. She has experience in research coordination, project management, and direct patient care. Since coming to RAND, Sousa has served as project manager on several complex projects culminating in reports shared by clients with Congress: one to evaluate telementoring activities designed to build the capacity of primary care providers in rural and underserved settings, and another to assess health services and primary care research to develop a strategic framework and plan for future federal investments. She has experience with quantitative and qualitative research methods, including recruiting for, and conducting, key informant interviews, focus groups, and process evaluations; and independently synthesizing quantitative and qualitative data for project reports, poster presentations, and research manuscripts. Sousa has managed numerous federally-funded contracts and grants, overseeing data management and quality assurance processes, subcontract negotiation, and multi-site project activities; monitoring project budgets and invoicing; tracking timelines and deliverables; and engaging in regular communication with clients. She is a licensed certified social worker in Massachusetts and has worked with adults with HIV/AIDS and serious mental illness, substance use disorder, and trauma. Her research interests include policies to address racial/ethnic disparities in health, interventions to target social determinants of health such as racism and poverty, and telehealth policy and implementation.

Sousa holds dual Master's degrees in clinical social work and health policy & management from Boston University and a Bachelor's degree in psychology from the University of Pennsylvania.

Research Focus

Selected Publications

Uscher-Pines, L., Sousa, J., Zachrison, K., Guzik, A., Schwamm, L., & Mehrotra, A. , "What Drives Greater Assimilation of Telestroke in Emergency Departments?" Journal of Stroke and Cerebrovascular Diseases, 29(12), 2020

Uscher-Pines, L., Sousa, J., Raja, P., Barnett, M., Mehrotra, A., & Huskamp, H.A. , "Treatment of Opioid Use Disorder during COVID-19: Experiences of Clinicians Transitioning to Telemedicine," Journal of Substance Abuse Treatment, 118, 2020

Uscher-Pines, L., Sousa, J., Raja, P., Mehrotra, A., Barnett, M., & Huskamp, H.A., "Suddenly becoming a ‘virtual doctor’: Experiences of psychiatrists transitioning to telemedicine during the COVID-19 pandemic," Psychiatric Services, 2020

Walter, A. W., Morocho, C., Chassler, D., Sousa, J., De Jesús, D., Longworth-Reed, L., Stewart, E., Guzman, G., Sostre, J., Linsenmeyer, A., & Lundgren, L. , "Evaluating culturally and linguistically integrated care for Latinx adults with mental and substance use disorders," Ethnicity & Health, 2019

McBain, R.K., Sousa, J.L., Rose, A.J., Baxi, S.M., Faherty, L.J., & Fischer, S.H., "Impact of Project ECHO and ECHO-like models of medical tele-education: A systematic review," Journal of General Internal Medicine, 2019

Martinez, L. S., Lundgren, L., Walter, A. W., Sousa, J., Tahoun, N., Steketee, G., Hahm, H., Mueser, K.T., Krull, I., Do, D.L., & Saitz, R., "Behavioral Health, Primary Care Integration, and Social Work’s Role in Improving Health Outcomes in Communities of Color: A Systematic Review," Journal of the Society for Social Work and Research, 2019

Trinh, N.H., Youn, S.J., Sousa, J., Regan, S., Bedoya, C.A., Chang, T.E., Fava, M., Yeung, A. , "Using electronic medical records to determine the diagnosis of clinical depression," International journal of medical informatics, 2011

Janes, A. C., Pizzagalli, D. A., Richardt, S., de B Frederick, B., Holmes, A. J., Sousa, J., Fava, M., Evins, A.E., Kaufman, M.J., "Neural substrates of attentional bias for smoking-related cues: an FMRI study," Neuropsychopharmacology, 2010

Publications